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A beer subscription box is a great way to try beers you can’t find in your local shop.

The best beer subscription boxes: At a glance

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Whether you’re searching for the perfect gift for a specialist craft beer lover in your orbit (or yourself), a box full of sudsy joy is a mere ring pull away.

Check out our picks of the best beer subscription box for every type of drinker.

If you’re subscribed to a service, especially one as loot-centric as many beer clubs, you’ll want to know that you can at least guarantee the service, even if you’ve got little say over the beer itself.

We narrowed down our options by making sure that:

  • The subscription actually gives you access to rare or limited beers that you wouldn’t find in a liquor store or supermarket.
  • They’re flexible and no-obligation, meaning you’re not tied to a subscription that doesn’t suit you.
  • A variety of subscription levels to allow a deeper dive or a more hands-off subscription as you feel like it.
  • You actually get what you pay for — and know what to expect every month.

Not all beers are created equal and, naturally, neither are all price tags. We’ve worked out the price per beer (except for First Sip, who deal with merch rather than brewskis) and labeled each subscription according to its cost-effectiveness:

  • $ = $2–3 per beer
  • $$ = $3–3.50 per beer
  • $$$ = over $3.50 per beer

One of these might have you hopping to your mailbox once a month.

The best for limited-distribution brews

Craft Beer Club

  • Price: $$$
  • Pros:
    • limited distribution beers available
    • beers certified fresh from selected breweries
  • Cons:
    • very little flexibility over type of beer
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This no-frills club sends out monthly shipments of exceptional craft beers from around the country.

Many of the craft brews have limited distribution, meaning a subscription to CBC might be your only shot of tasting those specialty brews. They also put a premium on fresh beer, with their selected breweries making a fresh batch just before boxes go out.

The Craft Beer Club costs $43 a month and features 12 carefully curated and hard-to-get beers in each shipment.

The best for hops lovers

The Hop-Heads Beer Club

  • Price: $
  • Pros:
    • specialized service — if hops are your thing, Hop-Heads is the one for you
    • includes both U.S. and imported varieties
  • Cons:
    • very little flexibility over the type of beer in a delivery
    • not much use for someone who doesn’t enjoy IPAs and super-hoppy beers
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If hops make you happy, this is the one for you (or another lover of hoppy beer in your life).

The Hop-Heads Beer Club sends four bottles apiece of three different hop-centric beers every month so you can get your fill.

While this is, unsurprisingly, heavy on IPAs of various styles, it also makes room for hoppy pale ale and red ales. These aren’t just super-bitter hop-you-over-the-head beers though. The club claims that its deliveries highlight a whole bunch of hop flavors and new types of hops — including imports as well as American selections.

Pricing starts at $35 per month for 3 months, which snags you 12 bottles.

The best for beer variety

Beer Drop

  • Price: $$$
  • Pros:
    • massive amounts of flexibility within beer styles
    • beers are canned (no risk of breakage)
  • Cons:
    • a pricey option compared to others on the list
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Some of the beer subscription boxes on this list don’t leave much of the beer selection up to you — but not so with Beer Drop.

This beer delivery box startup offers different plans. But with all of them, you can select the specific beer styles that arrive in your monthly shipments. According to Beer Drop, that includes IPA beers, fruity-forward beers, Belgian brews, and others.

Drops of microbrewery offerings start at $39 per month, and you can cancel your subscription anytime. Also notable: These brews are all canned, so you’ll never have to worry about a broken bottle.

The best for beer snobs

The U.S. Microbrewed Beer Club

  • Price: $
  • Pros:
    • grueling selection process — of 500 beers, only 20 percent make the cut
    • beers are often award-winning
    • good price point for the quality on offer
  • Cons:
    • some very acquired tastes in this list — artisanal isn’t for everyone
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This club dates back to 1994 and features high-quality, rare, and award-winning artisanal beers from around the country.

Each month, their team of experts tastes over 500 brews in consideration for that month’s shipment (all in a day’s work, we suppose). And the company claims that only 20 percent of the beers make the cut.

This is the perfect beer subscription box for the true beer snob working with a hypersensitive palate. We see you sniffing around for those hints of elderberry.

The best for global flavors

The Rare Beer Club

  • Price: $$$
  • Pros:
    • well-curated collection
    • beers included use interesting maturation and brewing techniques
    • a source of brews from around the world
  • Cons:
    • not many bottles at all for your buck
    • the most expensive service on this list is a minimum $19.48 per bottle
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The Rare Beer Club is the most selective of them all, featuring only two 750-milliliter (ml) bottles of beer a month.

It sends two separate styles per month and no 2 months will see the same bottles at your door (unless you request or reorder). Don’t be discouraged by the limited choices. It’s quality you’re here for, and these beers are carefully curated.

You have three buying options:

  • two 750 ml bottles per month ($39 plus shipping)
  • four 750 ml bottles per month ($55 plus shipping)
  • six 750 ml bottles per month ($73 plus shipping)

You’ll often receive beers from brewers that use rare production techniques and ingredients, like aging through blending or in bourbon and cedar barrels.

Plus, you’ll get super-rare brews from all over the world, including goodies from up-and-coming breweries in Brazil, Japan, and Scandinavia.

(Also, according to the site, the club was founded by a man called Michael Jackson — but not that one — which is kind of amazing.)

The best for U.S. beers

Beer Across America

  • Price: $$
  • Pros:
    • skippable months that you can check in advance — no beers tickle your fancy, no problem
    • good bang for buck
    • each beer features brewery and tasting notes
  • Cons:
    • no international beers — U.S. only
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The original monthly beer club, founded in 1992, Beer Across America is dedicated to highlighting great craft brews from across the country.

Each beer shipment includes 12 bottles — 4 varieties of beer from 2 craft breweries per month, curated by a panel of beer experts. As with many such clubs, you’ll also receive a monthly newsletter with more information about each featured brewery and tasting notes for each beer.

Plans start at $40 per month with free shipping, making it one of the least expensive options on this list, and you can cancel at any time.

Starting with the second shipment, you can review each month’s beer selections. If you see something you don’t want, you can skip that shipment and wait for different beers next month. You’ll still receive the total number of shipments you signed up for.

You get a bonus bar-style bottle opener, too.

The best for beer merch

First Sip Brew Box

  • Price: $
  • Pros:
    • the lowest priced membership on this list
    • merch is from small, cool craft breweries
    • different subscription levels
  • Cons:
    • they don’t actually send any beer
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Not always up for drinking beer but sometimes a fan of thinking about it? First Sip might be for you or the merch-happy beer superfan in your life.

Each box features merchandise like T-shirts, mugs, and sunglasses from one amazing craft brewery every month, plus optional extras like beer-infused baked goods and beer-scented candles.

With three subscription levels starting at $20.99 per month, this is a great way to immerse yourself in the creative world of craft brewing and appreciate one brand at a time. It even offers a beer-themed box for your pet.

Warning, though: According to some customer reviews, the contents of the box vary wildly, which means you might not always get the beery T-shirt or glass of your dreams.

Your pals needn’t always go out for a birthday beer — sometimes, the beer can come to them.

From hoppy IPAs to fruity flavors, these beer subscriptions give a platform to national and international craft brewhouses by bringing them right into your living room.

They’re not for everyone, and some are far more closely curated than others. But the beer connoisseurs in your life will appreciate it a huge deal.